Analysis of The Duke and the Duchess
William Schwenck Gilbert 1836 – 1911
Small titles and orders
For Mayors and Recorders
I get - and they're highly delighted.
M.P.s baronetted,
Sham Colonels gazetted,
And second-rate Aldermen knighted.
Foundation-stone laying
I find very paying,
It adds a large sum to my makings.
At charity dinners
The best of speech-spinners,
I get ten per cent on the takings!
I present any lady
Whose conduct is shady
Or smacking of doubtful propriety;
When Virtue would quash her
I take and whitewash her
And launch her in first-rate society.
I recommend acres
Of clumsy dressmakers -
Their fit and their finishing touches;
A sum in addition
They pay for permission
To say that they make for the Duchess!
Those pressing prevailers,
The ready-made tailors,
Quote me as their great double-barrel;
I allow them to do so,
Though ROBINSON CRUSOE
Would jib at their wearing apparel!
I sit, by selection,
Upon the direction
Of several Companies bubble;
As soon as they're floated
I'm freely bank-noted -
I'm pretty well paid for my trouble!
At middle-class party
I play at ECARTE -
And I'm by no means a beginner;
To one of my station
The remuneration -
Five guineas a night and my dinner.
I write letters blatant
On medicines patent -
And use any other you mustn't;
And vow my complexion
Derives its perfection
From somebody's soap - which it doesn't.
We're ready as witness
To any one's fitness
To fill any place or preferment;
We're often in waiting
At junket FETING,
And sometimes attend an interment.
In short, if you'd kindle
The spark of a swindle,
Lure simpletons into your clutches,
Or hoodwink a debtor,
You cannot do better
Than trot out a Duke or a Duchess!
Scheme | AABBBXCCDAAD EEEFFEAAGHHI AAJKKJHHJBBJ EBFHHFLLLHHL IIBCCBJJGFFI |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Etheree (27%) Tetractys (22%) |
Metre | 110010 1100010 110110010 11 1101 010110010 010110 111010 110111110 110010 011110 111111010 1101010 101110 1101100100 110110 11010 0100110100 10110 11010 110110010 010010 111010 111111010 1101 010110 111111010 1011111 110010 111110010 111010 010010 11010010 111110 110110 110111110 110110 1111 011110010 111110 00010 110010110 111010 110010 011010110 011010 011010 11011110 110110 110110 1110111 110010 1101 0010111 011110 011010 1101110 11010 110110 111011010 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,623 |
Words | 299 |
Sentences | 20 |
Stanzas | 5 |
Stanza Lengths | 12, 12, 12, 12, 12 |
Lines Amount | 60 |
Letters per line (avg) | 21 |
Words per line (avg) | 5 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 254 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 56 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 29, 2023
- 1:33 min read
- 78 Views
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"The Duke and the Duchess" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/41286/the-duke-and-the-duchess>.
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